Tag Archives: Big Bend Agate

Below is the list of spring 2019 Rockhunts, including those in January which have already been published.

Date

Time

Trip Location

Price

Thursday, 1/24/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Friday, 1/25/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Saturday, 1/26/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Sunday, 1/27/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Thursday, 2/7/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Friday, 2/8/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Saturday, 2/9/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Sunday, 2/10/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Monday, 2/11/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Thursday, 2/21/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Friday, 2/22/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Saturday, 2/23/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Sunday, 2/24/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Wednesday, 2/27/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Thursday, 2/28/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Saturday, 3/9/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Sunday, 3/10/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Thursday, 3/14/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Friday, 3/15/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Saturday, 3/16/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Sunday, 3/17/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Thursday, 3/21/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Friday, 3/22/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Saturday, 3/23/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Sunday, 3/24/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Thursday, 4/11/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Friday, 4/12/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Saturday, 4/13/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Sunday, 4/14/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Thursday, 4/18/19

8:00 a.m.

East Needle Peak

$40 per person

Friday, 4/19/19

9:00 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch

$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb

Saturday, 4/20/19

8:00 a.m.

South Larremore Ranch

$50 per person

Sunday, 4/21/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

Monday, 4/22/19

8:00 a.m.

Stillwell Ranch

50 cents per lb. of rock you take

As usual, all trips start in front of the Antelope Lodge, 2310 W. Highway 90, Alpine. To reserve your place on a trip, email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net. Payment for the trip is not due until the morning of the trip. All the ranches accept cash or check, and the Stillwell also accepts credit cards. At least one person in your group needs to be a member of the Rollin’ Rock Club to go on the trips. Cost is $10 per year for a single membership and $16 for a dual membership, purchasable at the time of the trip.

I’ll be out of town until the 18th, so, while I’ll be accepting reservations via email immediately, I may not send you a detailed response until at least the 19th. Answers to most questions concerning rockhunts are available on my website (really, they are there!).

If no one is signed up for a trip 48 hours before it starts it will be cancelled. Once cancelled, it can’t be “un-cancelled”. So be sure to sign up!

Since the Antelope Lodge has changed ownership, the prices have gone up somewhat, and the amenities are different. But the reservation website name is the same, www.antelopelodge.com.

I’ve scheduled on extra rockhunt for Monday November 12, at 8 a.m., to the South Larremore Ranch. Please let me know if you’d like to attend.

The following rockhunts DO NOT have people signed up for them:

Thursday, 12/13: South Larremore Ranch 8:00 a.m.

Thursday, 12/20: East Needle Peak 8:00 a.m.

Friday, 12/21: South Larremore Ranch 8:00 a.m.

Saturday, 12/22: Stillwell Ranch 8:00 a.m.

Sunday, 12/23: Ritchie Ranch 9:00 a.m.

If no one has signed up for these rockhunts two days before they are to occur, they will be cancelled. Since at least one person has signed up for each of the other rockhunts on my list, they will happen.

As many of you know, I don’t get paid in money to lead the field trips, but I get to pick up rocks. This has resulted in my having a collection of well over 1,000 5-gallon buckets full of agate, specimens, and other rocks. It’s time for me to downsize my collection to include only the things I’d most like to cut and/or display. I’d like your opinions and comments about how I can best facilitate the sale of most of my collection of 40,000 lbs of agate, specimens, and other rocks to rockhounds such as yourselves. The collection is 90% Big Bend material, with the other 10% consisting of saleable, cuttable rock (geodes, lace agate, chevron amethyst, etc.) from the US and Mexico. I am going through it right now to catalog it completely and decide what I want to keep.

There are five basic ways I can sell the collection: as a complete collection; by the category; by the bucket as they are; by the bucket after I’ve curated the contents; and by the pound. This list begins with the least expensive cost per pound and progresses to the most expensive one, because each succeeding option requires more of my time and effort than the previous one, thus adding to the cost.

The material includes just about everything that can be found at the ranches I’ve led rockhunts on, including the Walker and Singleton, which are now closed forever. There’s material from the Woodward Ranch, and from a couple of ranches that were never opened to the public. There’s old Mexican material from the estate of a man from Presidio who bought and sold agate by the ton or truckload, and from a couple of other estates of local rockhounds. There’s some unusual material from the Gila National Forest in New Mexico that I can’t legally sell but can give to those who buy other stuff. And there’s also over a ton of slag glass.

There are also several methods I can use to sell the rocks: my website, www.terismithrockhunts; another sales channel like eBay, or the Facebook rock pages; via emails to my email list; or at sales at my home here in Alpine.

I would appreciate you letting me know whether you’d have any interest in purchasing rocks from me, and what option and method would work best for you. I’ll take all that information into consideration as I decide what to do. Obviously, there’s no obligation on either side…